Film

Balzac and the Little Chinese SeamstressCo-produced in China and France, the movie version of Sijie Dai's Balzac And The Little Chinese Empress was released in 2002, and again found wide success.By Carol Amoruso

MaestroMaestro, directed by Cuban-born/New York-raised director Josell Ramos, takes a look at the formative days of dance music culture in New York City, when it was still underground, and still largely a black, Latino and gay phenomenon.By Tom Pryor

Short Cut To Nirvana“The entire game of liberation or bondage is enacted on the stage of the mind,” wrote Tantra scholar Georg Feuerstein." If the travelers to Kumbh Mela had any mantra in mind, this would be fitting.By By Derek Beres

Musica Cubana Musica Cubana by Argentine director German Kral, has been touted as the sequel to Wim Wenders’ 1998 masterpiece of documentary filmmaking, The Buena Vista Social Club.By Eve M. Ferguson

The Motorcycle Diaries Walter Salles’ The Motorcycle Diaries is baffling because it refuses to be political despite the fact that its protagonist was one of the most radical revolutionaries of the 20th century.By Maximo Zeledon

Born Into Brothels Who would have thought that a film about children of prostitutes in India could be riveting? Born Into Brothels: Calcutta’s Red Light Kids is a rare film filled with passion and compassion.By Iris Brooks

Water Water, written and directed by Deepa Mehta, is the last in her trilogy of“element” films, and it is a crowning achievement for its creator.By Brian Zavitz

Satin Rouge Satin Rouge is a daring Arab drama that addresses how a wanton woman copes with a strict social structure. By Kam Williams

I'll Sing For You I’ll Sing For You, a documentary directed by Swiss filmmaker Jacques Sarasin, is about the life and music of the veteran Malian bluesman Boubacar Traoré, known to his fellow countrymen as “Kar Kar.” By Graham Henderson